Police release footage of IRA’s Manchester bomb
Wed Jun 7, 2006 6:30 PM BST
LONDON (Reuters) - Video footage of the IRA’s bombing of Manchester city centre in 1996 were released on Wednesday for the first time.
The bomb, one of the largest to explode in Britain during peace-time, did not kill anyone.
Although a coded warning had led to the evacuation of the area more than 200 were injured and the city’s Arndale Shopping Centre, which had earlier been packed with Sunday shoppers, was totally devastated.
The images were released by Greater Manchester Police after officers concluded there was little chance of catching anyone for the offence.
“In consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, we have concluded that at this time there is no realistic possibility of a prosecution,” Deputy Chief Constable Dave Whatton said.
“This has allowed us to release new material that we have held for the last 10 years,” he said in a statement.
The bomb, planted in a small lorry which left a crater 40 feet wide and 15 feet deep, came only a few months after a bomb ripped through Canary Wharf in London in February killing two people.
